Assisted Dying
Debate between Danny Kruger and Ruth Cadbury(6 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Ruth Cadbury
I want to crack on so that both the Government and the mover of the debate can have their chance.
We have heard concerns about vulnerable adults nearing the end of their life who could be at risk of pressure from either family members who feel incapable, for whatever reason, of providing care and support for a terminally ill person, or, as eloquently touched on by my right hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley (Sir George Howarth), those with even worse motives. If reform is offered, it is essential that there is a plan for robust and effective safeguards against those issues.
Matthew Parris’s article has been referenced by the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) and my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms). Unlike the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley) and the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne), I believe that the article is not a reason for doing nothing—I hope I have got my negatives right. Change must be backed by evidence. Safeguards must be backed by evidence that they work, so we must learn from international experiences and look at how reform has played out in other jurisdictions that have implemented such a law change.
I want to address palliative care and hospices, which is an issue I had hoped to speak about in the Chamber last week as I recently visited the Shooting Star hospice used by my constituents. We know that we need to improve palliative care in this country. The Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Winchester (Steve Brine), said that a law change in other jurisdictions has led to significant improvements in palliative care in those countries. My hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) addressed the issues of loneliness and poor social care. It is so essential that everyone, whatever their choices, has a good end of life experience. Irrespective of what happens with the law on assisted dying and what choices we take, we must improve end of life care in this country.
I was moved by the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, who described the difficulty in getting adequate morphine for his mother-in-law as she was nearing her end. As the former Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock), said, even the best palliative care cannot remove the trauma and terrible pain of some health conditions. The issue of choice has been mentioned many times by Members. I will paraphrase the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse), who said, “Please don’t impose the choices of others upon me.” The hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) and others have addressed the fact that going to Dignitas is expensive and out of reach for many, and those who do go are not able to have close family with them because that would risk police investigation, as Esther Rantzen mentioned this morning on the radio.
My hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Damien Egan) said that, in Oregon, a third of those who initially choose the option of assisted dying do not actually take that route. Again, they have the choice at the end. The issue about choice was described most profoundly when the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Lia Nici) read out her friend’s letter and described what her friend had said to her in her last painful weeks. That really came home to me in a very moving way. We have had other considered and thoughtful contributions from a number of Members, which I do not have time to list, but I thank them, and I listened carefully.
To conclude, only by reforming the law, and introducing safeguards to address the concerns that hon. Members have raised today, can we move the law forward—a law that is about personal freedom and morality. As the Supreme Court has decided, only Parliament can make the change. I want to restate our clear commitment that a future Labour Government would make time for a private Member’s Bill so that Parliament can have the final say through a free vote following a full debate and a process of amendments. This place is at its best when it rises to the occasion and takes a cross-party, consensual and evidence-based approach to issues, and that is the approach that we need on this vital issue.